Handle up 21% on quiet opening day at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There were no lines of people down Union Avenue in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Picnic tables that would normally be occupied by 7 a.m. were instead piled high on a grassy area outside the gate.

In the box seat area, chairs were stacked individually and, for the most part, televisions were not installed. The Turf Terrace became a makeshift press box for those who preferred to be outside of the regular enclosed press area.

And when the gates opened for the opener, there was no one to shout “And they’re off at Saratoga,” with track announcer John Imbriale.

Such was the scene Thursday as Saratoga opened its 40-day meet without spectators and, for one day anyway, sans owners. Only trainers, their employees, jockeys, NYRA personnel, and media were on hand to usher in the 152nd Saratoga season.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans are not allowed to attend the races at Saratoga. Starting Friday, a limited number of owners will be allowed in, provided they have a horse running on the card and have made previous reservations with NYRA. Even then, only owners licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission – eight per horse – will be allowed to sit at picnic stables surrounding the paddock. They will be able stand on the apron when their horse is running.

Despite no ontrack crowd, and bettors having to wager through an advance-deposit account, all-sources handle was $19,100,297, a 21.2 percent increase over last year’s total of $15,754,227. Last year's opening-day attendance was 22,591.

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After saddling two horses for the first race on opening day at Saratoga, trainer Linda Rice walked toward an empty clubhouse to watch the race on a big-screen television.

“Walking in here was so strange without all the fans,” Rice said. “I can’t say I like it.”

Rice did like the outcome of the opener as Grit and Glory, under apprentice Luis Cardenas – riding his first-ever race at Saratoga – got up in the last jump to win the opener by a neck. Rice would go on to win the fifth race with longshot Big Engine, ridden by Jose Lezcano. Rice entered both horses back for Sunday.

“Winning is still the same whether it’s Belmont or Saratoga,” said Rice, who in 2009 became the first woman to win a Saratoga trainer’s title.

Still, there was nothing familiar about Thursday’s opening-day card, including the weather. It was cloudy, but did not rain. It was cool, with temperatures in the upper 70s as opposed to upper 80s with high humidity.

The coolness of the morning and the lack of people on the backside did not give it an opening-day feel.

“This feels like a dark day,” said trainer Bruce Levine, who has stabled in Saratoga since 1982. “The fans make it. If there’s no fans, there’s no energy. It’s a shame, but you got to get through it.”

All horsemen noted that they were thankful to be running. New York racing was shutdown for 80 days due to the pandemic. Racing was conducted at Belmont Park for 25 days, and Saratoga is scheduled to operate a 40-day meet through Sept. 7.

Jockeys who rode opening day at Saratoga will not be permitted to ride anywhere else during the meet or they won’t be allowed back in at Saratoga.

Likewise, jockeys who have ridden elsewhere beginning Thursday will not be able to ride at Saratoga.

“It feels weird, man,” said John Velazquez, who won two races on Thursday’s card. “Thirty-one years for me, I’ve never seen something like this. Very sad. We have to do what we have to do to keep everybody safe and continue racing. But it’s definitely very weird.”

Bill Mott was schooling horses late Thursday morning. He said typically the fans are already at their picnic tables and more are getting ready to enter the admission gates. Obviously, none of that was happening Thursday.

“I was talking to a security guard, and he said ‘It’s like getting a big plate of tofu,’ ” Mott said.